By Shelley Widhalm

The Surveyor

Going to the park and sitting on the couch watching a movie usually don’t go together – unless you go to Berthoud’s parks and get your ticket selected.

This year a few VIPs will be able to sit front and center of a portable movie screen during the second annual Movies in the Park. The rest of the park/moviegoers will have to bring their own lawn chairs and blankets for lawn seating as they watch a few favorite picks and old-time movies.

“It’s kind of a throwback, not only throwback movies, but there’s a little bit of nostalgia behind it, just remembering the good old days,” said Bret Lamperes, team leader at Keller Williams Realty in Berthoud, who hosts the event with his wife Vanya, owner of Vanya Marie “An Eclectic Closet.” “We just decided when we moved to Berthoud a year ago we wanted to do something fun, and that is a community gathering.”

The first movie, “ET,” will be shown May 31 to kick off the 65^th annual Berthoud Day at Berthoud Park, 200 Seventh St. Berthoud Day, hosted by the Berthoud Area Chamber of Commerce, will feature a parade, a 5K run, live music, and food and vendor booths.

“Berthoud Day used to be Berthoud Days, and a lot of people liked that,” said Nicole Jenkins, office manager of the Berthoud chamber. “Instead of extending our event for two days, we thought that was a perfect combination for our event. We thought why not do them together, so we can have a kickoff to our event?”

The rest of the movies will be shown at dusk at Fickel Park on the third Thursday of the month. The schedule includes “Top Gun” on June 27, “Raiders of the Lost Ark” on July 25, and “Surf’s Up” on Aug. 22, plus another movie in September to align with Berthoud High School’s homecoming.

Last year 150 to 200 people attended each of the Movies in the Park, when movies were held in June and July and again for homecoming.

“It’s just a great almost nostalgic-like small town event in the summer evening in a nice town park with friends and family,” said Brian Dodd of Berthoud, who attended last year’s Movies in the Park with his wife and their four children. “If you’re looking for something to do with your family right here locally, it’s a perfect atmosphere to get out on a nice summer evening and under the stars. We have such a beautiful town park. It’s a perfect event.”

The Lamperes came up with the idea for the movies as a form of outreach and to put to use Keller William’s 15-foot inflatable movie screen. Lampere offers his clients a free movie showing for their housewarming and going-away parties, depending on if they buy or sell. He provides a keg of their beer of choice and a popcorn machine. At Movies in the park, he fills the keg with root beer and brings along the machine to give away the popcorn.

“We like being part of our clients’ lives,” Lamperes said. “Buying a house with us is always a personal thing. We like to put a personal touch to it.”

New this year will be food trucks with food for purchase. A “living room” with a couch and chairs will be set up for the “best seats in the house” that will include movie candy, Lamperes added. For a chance to win the seats in the Lamperes Lounge, attendees will need to fill out an information card and place it in a bucket.

“Whoever wins will be able to sit in VIP seating,” Lamperes said. “It’s just something fun to spoil some people.”